Due to the limited reserves of fossil fuels and worries about emission of greenhouse gases there is an increasing focus on using renewable energy sources. Production of fermentation products from lignocellulose-containing material is known in the art and conventionally includes pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation of the lignocellulose-containing material. Pre-treatment results in the release of, e.g., phenolics and furans, from the lignocellulose-containing material that may irreversibly bind enzymes added during hydrolysis and fermentation. These compounds may also be toxic to the fermenting organism's metabolism and inhibit the performance of the fermenting organism.
Detoxification by steam stripping has been suggested but it is a cumbersome and a costly additional process step. It has also been suggested to wash the pre-treated lignocellulose-containing material before hydrolysis. This requires huge amounts of water, that needs to be removed again, and is therefore also costly.
Consequently, there is a need for providing processes for detoxifying pre-treated lignocellulose-containing material suitable for fermentation product production processes.